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Fast Talk

March 14, 2008

Q: Should waiting at home for the repair man count as a sick day? | posted by Fast Company staff

Tags: Work/Life
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March 14, 2008 at 11:48am by Jim Balsitis

No, it should not count as a sick day. Sick days should be used only for when you are sick or perhaps when your child is sick. Companies should, however, give time off, personal time, for such events. How much time should a company give any one employee for such events? I'm not sure. I also think that companies should not take vacation time to be used for these types of time off. Vacation time is important to the wellbeing of the employee and it should be encouraged that the employee use it for that.

Of course, there are many different circumstances that would change how this might work.

March 14, 2008 at 1:53pm by Menahem Simha

no

March 14, 2008 at 4:03pm by Frank Martinez

Yes and no; If it did not count as a sick I think we all have a lot more services at home that "required" us to be there.

I do think that this is something we all experience so maybe employers can offer 2-3 days for home matters. The employee can then set an appointment for EVERYONE to come on the same day :).

Then again I get 10 vacation and 5 sic, so i have time, would 2-3 more be greedy?

March 14, 2008 at 4:23pm by Gene Lu

Especially a big NO for people that can work via telecommuting (Speaking of which, I'm working from home right now even though I'm sick).

It has always puzzled me why certain services don't extended beyond 6pm since most of the people that those services cater to are people that work from 9-5 (or even later).

March 14, 2008 at 4:48pm by Nathan Minetti

I think that companies should switch over to PTO (Paid Time Off) time instead of having vacation and sick days. This way the employee can chose to use their set number of days for whatever they chose.

I think repair men need to work later hours or weekends so people who have jobs do not need to use vacation in order to get something serviced at their home.

March 14, 2008 at 6:13pm by Will Nichols

Only if you cannot work from home, unless you're a telecommuter waiting for the Internet Repair guy.

March 14, 2008 at 6:40pm by Bar Wiegman

No - that is why you get vacation time - to take care of personal business. If you can work from home while waiting for the repairman, then you should be able to count it as work hours.

March 14, 2008 at 6:46pm by Rachel Rachel

Lol - I like this question, but I would have to say no. Simply because you are NOT sick. In terms of a doctor coming to repair your exterior - yes!

March 14, 2008 at 7:57pm by Judi Neal

No. An employee should just take comp time to wait for the repair man. If they don't have any earned comp time, they should make up the time missed as soon as they can.

March 14, 2008 at 10:30pm by Jason Falls

No, but the repairman should pay my days salary for so rudely wasting my time.

March 15, 2008 at 4:44pm by Carroll Straus

there should be "practical" days, for needs such as this or family priorities. Work supports family, not vice versa!

March 15, 2008 at 10:01pm by Patrick Johnson

Well, no. But if the company has a record of offering compensation for unused sick days as part severance packages, they are essentially adding the days to your salary. In that case, feel free to use the days as YOU see fit.

March 16, 2008 at 2:47am by Michael Lavia

All business should find a way for their employees to work from home if they need to. In this day and age, with the tools at hand, it is ridiculous to think that your job couldn't be done from home, if needed.

March 16, 2008 at 9:49am by Tracy Huang

Well,it sounds crazy in China. I mean,integrity means a lot and one should never make excuses for being absent from work.Just tell your boss the truth, why don't you?

March 16, 2008 at 12:38pm by Deepesh Banerji

No as long as you can get your work done remotely via VPN/remote desktop/telephone etc.

March 16, 2008 at 12:56pm by Vannie Ryanes

No. That is a personal day and should be used as such.

March 16, 2008 at 1:17pm by c womaner

what do you do when someone needs to be at home? If you have the luxury of paying someone to stay at your house, thats fine, but i am sure your employees dont. You need them to feel good about their employement, they will be very loyal to their company if they are treated good.

March 16, 2008 at 3:45pm by Bob Porter

No.

March 16, 2008 at 4:01pm by Rashunda Tramble

No. It should count as a personal day or a "gotta-handle-my-business" day.

I can only speak for here in Switzerland: Repair people work the same exact hours as everyone else (9-5). They will not come to your home before or after hours. Also, normally, they give you a time range that they will come by, for example, "between 12-2." So you have to sit and wait on them to show up when they're ready.

March 16, 2008 at 10:01pm by m e

My gut feel was...a solid no.
In practice, maybe it's yes.
And its called a 1/2 day personal day.

Our "convenience" filled lives seem
to turn into a "hurry up and wait"
more and more...whether its the
backed up highways of the commute or
its the inconvenient truth of the AC unit going out.

So unless you have a spouse just sitting around..haha...you take off for this stuff and doctors appointments and dentist and..car repair and so on...

March 17, 2008 at 4:00am by Peter Monk

No, but... 'Sick' in my view = incapacitated to an extent where one cannot complete the work assigned. In today's connected, technological world, I don't believe 'waiting at home' meets this definition - notwithstanding, at a stretch, the degree of personal & family stress depending on the nature of the repair, which then goes to the point about incapacitation.
More importantly, the 'right' company will be understanding about time off based on values and value they place on the employee, not a rigid definition of 'sick.'

March 18, 2008 at 4:11pm by Deborah Blok

It's obviously not sick time, but we all need to take a personal day once in awhile. Why don't more companies just give employees 10 paid days, to use as they need to? I know many moms who use their sick days to stay home with sick kids.

March 21, 2008 at 1:54pm by William Maines

when my roommate and I owned a hair salon we allotted for sick days and then separately allowed for 'gay-days' --creativity doesn't just turn on and off from 9 - 5, and somedays its not on at all...those days were 'gaydays' don't go to work, don't force the art, instead do something that makes you happy, hence gay days. we allowed 3 a year, pending client approval. not exactly the same situation i know, similar in policy, different in content

April 5, 2008 at 8:55pm by roy hAITHCOCK

We grant 10 days..vacation, sick, personal...10 days paid..why should it matter why an employee is off.

April 6, 2008 at 11:02pm by Jared Vorkavich

I'm with the folks who are for no-reason days off. Just give people a break to live their lives and do good work too. You can have both if you trust your employees and give them the freedom to take care of their families.